The Brink of Death
by ShadowRaven815
Summary: Post OoT AU. Ganondorf was able to defeat Link in their final battle, and he now has all three Triforce pieces. Link must now undergo whatever torture he is faced with... but where is Zelda? Can Link find a way out of this eternal hell, and not only rescue his princess, but all of Hyrule? Link's PoV unless otherwise stated. Rated T for swearing, torture, violence, etc.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I revised and changed this chapter a bit from how it was at first because of some constructive criticism from "Orihalcon" and so some things that were in this at first are now different. Thanks for the help, I know that I'm more of an artist than a writer but I still love writing and wish to be great at it. So yeah! Please review what you think when you read it, and I will respond and change things that need changed. :3

**Chapter 1**

I can still see those last few moments in my head. Hear Zelda's screams of terror. Watch the huge claw, stained with blood, come thrashing at me from the side. Feeling a surge of electric pain through my body as I'm hurled into the air like a rag doll, and thrown against a wall from the crumpled ruins of Ganondorf's castle. I don't know what happened next, but I know it's not going to be good, once I can open my eyes again. What has he done to the princess? What has happened to Hyrule? And where am I? I can't be... dead? No, people can't think when they're dead. The only way to find out is to open my eyes...

It feels like a million small hands are pulling my eyelids downwards, willing me to rest longer, but I know that I need to wake up. At first I'm confused; my eyes are open but I can't see anything. I'm in a damp, cold, dark room. Then the pain from Ganondorf's attack comes flooding over me. I can feel deep bleeding wounds in my left side. My wrists and ankles are raw from chains that hold me to the wall. Blood is dripping into my eyes from a gash across my forehead. Then I realize there is something sticky- probably blood- coming from my left hand. I look down at it to try and see, but I can't.

Then the Triforce on my hand glows red, and I feel white hot pain course through it. It feels like the blood in that arm was replaced with lava. I yell out in pain as I see that a blade had traced itself around where the Triforce was, and completely skinned that part of my left hand. Even the air is sending pulses of pain through the raw spot.

A heavy iron door swings open, and I see the silhouette of the man who has sent me into this spiraling hell of torture: Ganondorf. He closes the door and grins at me in a way that sends chills up my spine. His right hand begins to glow, and I see that rather than the top part of it glowing brighter (the triangle that represents power) all of it is glowing brightly.

"W- what have y- you done?" I choke out.

"You will speak to me with respect!" Ganondorf shouts at me. There's a flash of pain as he slaps me across the face. "You will call me Master from now on, and you will speak with respect and only speak when spoken to. Understand?"

"Why should I?" I call back defiantly. There's no way I'm going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me crumble and wither in fear.

"If you give a single shit about Zelda, you'd do as I say. I've already considered killing her." Ganondorf replies nonchalantly.

"Fine..." I mutter under my breath.

"Fine what?" Ganondorf says, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine... Master." I spit the word out. He smiles.

"See? That wasn't so hard. Of course, it might be later when you're begging for your life. But that's enjoyable. I'm going to have fun, crushing all of your hope and making you shudder before me!"

_Put a cork in it, _I think to myself. Suddenly the red Triforce on my hand starts to glow intensely and my body goes numb. Don't cry out... don't cry out... The Triforce gets brighter, and a deep throaty yelp is forced from my lungs. It stops. I drop to my knees, panting and hanging loosely from my chains.

"I can hear your every thought while your Triforce piece is mine." Ganondorf adds, looking down happily at his right hand. I understand it, if I don't willingly have a breakdown and obey him, he'll either force me into it, or kill me. "I'm growing bored in here. I'll come by later so we can play more of my games."

"No! Wait!" I call to Ganondorf as he turns around.

"What is it?"

"Please, please don't hurt Zelda. Hurt me instead! I'll take whatever you can do to me, but you have to leave her!"

"Ha, I love hearing you plea for help. Perhaps I will consider your offer, but then again, why should I make offers with my slave?"

"Please! Master!"

The iron door slams shut, concealing me in shadow. I'm ashamed. If I had been able to kill Ganondorf, none of this would have happened. Zelda would've had her kingdom back to rule once again, and bring to peace. Navi and I would've gone back 7 years ago, and live out our lives. Everyone would still be safe, and Ganondorf would be dead.

I do something I haven't done for as long as I can remember.

I cry. I let the tears drop down from my azure eyes, let them roll down my dirt and blood- stained face. I can't wipe them away anyway because of these damn chains. Dammit, Ganondorf! Why can't you just let me die! Let me die and let this all be over! He's forcing me to stay on the brink of death, to let me not just taste hell, but force it down my throat by the gallons. And knowing that Zelda could be going through worse than I am, knowing that I can't do anything about it... it just drives me insane!

I sit there, crying for Hylia knows how long, and at some point I end up drifting into the dark abyss of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I wake up some time later. Although I don't know how long I slept, I don't feel like I've slept long. I feel a little dizzy with a pounding at my temples. The various injuries on my body don't feel much better, especially my left hand. If anything, it feels worse than before. The cool air on the raw flesh sends painful chills up my spine, like thousands of small spiders crawling up my arm and biting with each step.

_Creaaaaak..._

The door opens.

"Zelda?" I croak out, looking up at her and wincing at the light shining into the room. She stares at me blankly; I notice that her right hand is skinned like mine, but yet she pays no mind to it. "Zelda, hurry up! Get out of here before Ganondorf sees you! Leave me!" Her facial expression doesn't change, and she doesn't move at all, except her slow and steady breathing.

"You didn't protect me." Zelda says, holding her right hand out in front of my face. In the place where the Triforce was, it begins to glow red like mine did earlier. Then mine does the same. I scream out at the sudden burst of pain that goes through my arm.

"What are you doing?!" I shout at her.

"You didn't protect me." Zelda replies as monotonously as before. I feel the hammering headache become more prominent, the blood-into-lava feeling comes again, searing up my arm. I'm caught off guard as the chains that hold me in place begin to morph into something slimy. Still holding me in place, the slimy things start growing longer, wrapping themselves around my arms and legs like a snake to its prey.

I am unable to do anything as the slimy material comes from my arms up to my head, wrapping around my mouth and gagging me. It tastes vulgar, like blood and vomit. I feel vomit rise up through me and I'm forced to swallow it again for it has nowhere to go. The slimy arms wrapped around my legs get higher until they meet around my waist, getting tighter and tighter, forcing what little air I had to escape. I look frantically in all directions, left, right, down, up, hoping to see some easy magical way out of this, but there is nothing but me suffocating and Zelda leering over me, her hand still unwavering in front of my face.

I begin to feel very hot, my face going from pale, to pink, to red, to purple. Then the slimy arms around my waist pull in tighter one last time...

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" I scream in terror as my head juts up and I awaken. I am hyperventilating, the pounding headache still there, the raw flesh and deep cuts still hurting. I take quick gasps of air, breathing out slowly and then almost instantly breath in again. There was no way that was a dream, it was way too real. Was I hallucinating? Did Ganondorf drug me in my sleep? Or did it really happen? "Dammit Ganondorf!" I yell, even though he probably didn't hear me. I bang my head against the stone wall behind me in frustration, not caring how much my head bleeds. I feel the sticky red substance start to weigh down my dirty blonde hair. It makes my headache feel worse.

I moan as I sit down on my knees- as far as I can go down- with my arms stuck dangling above me. I just sit there, probably for a couple hours, just trying to recuperate. I try to stop my inhalations from being frantically fast, but I can't do it. _Breathe in, breathe out. Just calm down... don't worry about what happened. Breathe in, breathe out. But it was terrifying, I was gonna die! _My breaths grow fast and raspy again. _No no, just... breathe in, breathe out. _I continue this for a long time, closing my eyes. A few times my mind takes off on thoughts of panic, but I just try to push them away and focus on my breathing. _Breathe in, breathe out._

My meditation is interrupted by the door being opened, and then shut just as quickly. I know from a glance at his silhouette it's Ganondorf. "I see you're settling well after the hallucinations you were having." I sneer at him and look away. "I could hear all of your screams from my throne room. Such music to my ears." Ganondorf sets down something that sounds like metal, and snaps his fingers. I flinch, expecting something to happen to me. Instead, the chains around my wrists vanish so only my feet are bound. "Eat." He says, kicking the metal thing on the ground at my feet. I feel around; it's a tray with a glass of water and a buttered slice of bread. I happily pick up the water but jump a little before I drink from it.

"You put something in this, didn't you?" I ask, looking up at Ganondorf's eyes.

Ganondorf grunts, "No." and waits for me to eat. I look up at Ganondorf suspiciously. "If you don't believe me, then don't eat. I really don't care." Cautiously, I hold the water up near my mouth. I take a deep smell of it. I don't think there's anything I smell. I take a very small sip of the water. I don't think there's anything odd about the taste. I guzzle down more than half the glass and set it down. Then I pick up the piece of bread. No odd smell. No odd taste. I eat the bread, and then gulp down the rest of the water. Ganondorf is still standing there, as if he's waiting on something.

"What?" I ask.

"Well, you never thanked me for the meal? It wouldn't be my problem if you starved to death."

"Thanks..." I mutter. Ganondorf reaches over to grab my left hand, and he squeezes it very tightly, forcing more blood to come out of it. I gasp and try to pull my hand back.

"Thanks, what?" Ganondorf asks.

"Agh! Thanks... Master..." I breathe out. He releases my hand, swatting it back at me a bit.

"I shouldn't have to keep reminding you to call me master. Don't forget next time." He steps out, but hesitates before he reaches the doorway. "Oh, and just yell in terror when the side effects of the 'water' kick in." The iron door slams shut, and he's gone.

"What?!" I shout at Ganondorf. There WAS something in it! He's drugging me again! But when will it kick in? What's going to happen to me? Since the chains on my hands are still gone, I'm able to pick up the glass, and I chuck it at the door, listening to the satisfying shattering noise. I drop down on my stomache, despite the pain from where he clawed me in my side, and I heave out sobs, clutching my left hand. My breathing goes quick again, and there is a small pool of tears where my head is laying. And I stay there, reeling from the torment of waiting for my torture to come, not knowing what will happen to me next.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I am very anxious at this point, as if I almost want the side effects to just happen already and get it over with. I have sat in the dark for about an hour continuously checking to see if it starts, and it hasn't. I jump at a tingling sensation at my neck and quickly jump my hands up to the spot. My hand crushes a spider. Dammit. I forgot that bugs could get in here. I get chills thinking that there may be millions of them in the other corner and I can't see them, and they might eat me alive if I fall asleep.

So I can't even sleep at this point. I lean against the wall, and then pull back a little at the stinging on my side from the claw marks. At least it's healing a little; I just hope none of my wounds get infected. My filthy hair brushes against my neck, and I tense up a little, thinking it's a bug, and then calm down again.

After sitting as I was for a few minutes, my feet begin to fall asleep. I kick them alive, and realize it won't go away. The buzzing feel crawls up my lower leg. I brush and scratch at them, but nothing's there. That's impossible, there has to be something there. The weird feeling continues to crawl up my body, and I am helpless to stop it.

I keep digging my fingernails into my legs, hoping to make it stop, but it just gets itchier the more I scratch at it. This makes me want to scratch it more. I keep clawing away at myself, to the point that my legs and arms start to bleed. Even with the bleeding, it feels like small creatures are crawling under my skin.

"Make it stop!" I yell out. I try to resist scratching once I realize that I'm making myself bleed. But it's such an irresistible urge, that I have to. So I continue doing it, getting angrier at myself as I cause more harm. I take little notice as the door to my cell opens up.

"You yelled in terror?" Ganondorf says sarcastically.

"What did you do to me?" I shout at him, not caring about respect, and 'Master,' and any other shit he's forced me to do.

"Oh, yeah. There wasn't anything in the water." Ganondorf snickers at me as realization dawns upon me. My hands drop. There is no itching. "That's right. I've been sitting out there, waiting, watching, as you withered in fear of nothing but yourself." I stand up and look him in the eyes. Ganondorf, with a face stretched into his demented grin, leans in just enough so I can't use my hands or legs to touch him. Looking in his cold, blank eyes, I feel all the mental and physical strain he's been putting me through rush back so quickly that I move before I think.

"Damn you!" I shout in his face as I push off the wall and headbutt him as hard as my feeble body would allow. Ganondorf staggers back, and for the briefest moment I feel satisfied with what it did, but that feeling comes back and bites me in the ass when I realize what I really just did. I watch a couple drips of Ganondorf's blood slip between his fingers, which are clenched around his nose, and fall to the floor.

_Drip... drip..._

Ganondorf lifts his hand from his face and looks at his blood sticking to it. He looks at me, wit no emotion. Fear strikes harder than a sword when his golden eyes glare at me, with no sign of what he's thinking. His fist comes hurtling at me. It drives through my nose and my head slams against the stone wall. I sit there in a daze for a moment, moaning in pain. I can't hold my hands up to my nose, so I feel blood gush out of it and run over my mouth and drip down, further blood-staining my green tunic.

"Look what you made me do!" Ganondorf shouts at me.

"I-I'm sorry, Master, p-please..." I look down, stuttering, feeling blood rush from my nose painfully.

"You should be sorry. All of this pain that has happened to you, to everyone, is because of you..." Ganondorf says it slowly.

_All of this pain that has happened to me, to everyone, is because of me... _I repeat it in my head, dividing every word as it sinks in.

"You alone are the source of all of your pain..."

_I alone am the source of all of my pain..._

"Your fear isn't of me..."

_My fear isn't of you..._

"You fear yourself."

_I fear myself._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Why am I forced to live through this all? Ganondorf won't end my life, and he's not giving me the option to commit suicide. I've wallowed in the darkness of my cell for two days with a throbbing nose and no food. My own thoughts torture me. I still see Zelda's pained face right before Ganondorf knocked me out. I still hear Navi cry my name as I'm hurtled into a wall. I still hear his laugh. That goddamn laugh Ganondorf spits out at the sight of me. And I feel the shuddering pain of his claws digging through my skin, of slamming into solid stone, of the magic pain the Triforce now causes me, of his fist drilling through my face. The pain doesn't stop when he pulls back, or when he leaves the room.

But I know the only person at fault here is me. I wasn't strong enough to save those I love. I let the memories swirl around inside me, creating a vortex of guilt. I loathe the one thing that I can never escape, even with death: myself.

I perk up as there are footsteps in the hallway. Are they coming for me?

"So, what happened in the storeroom?" A woman with a heavy Gerudo accent asks.

"That kid's stuff was stolen."

"Everything?"

"Yeah. I got a list here, uhh... a green hat, a sword and sheild, bow and arrows, and..." They walk too far for me to hear the rest. Who would want my belongings? I doubt a common thief could get through here, guessing on the size of Ganondorf's army. How curious. Perhaps I'll hear more of this. A few minutes pass in thought, wondering who would take things, especially _my _things, from the evil tyrant of Hyrule.

_Ring ring ring ring ring._

What was that? I look around, looking for some sort of bell. Then a hear the smallest footsteps from the hall, the footsteps you'd hear from a mouse. A light, jingly voice of a child speaks quietly, "Is this the room? It _has _to be it."

I know that voice, who's is it?

A little blue light peaks from under the door. The small voice squeals as she squeezes under the door. She pops out, flying in midair and shaking. Squinting at the small creature, I can barely see the blue body hidden by her own glow.

"Na...vi?" I groan, looking up at her hopefully.

"Link!" She squeals, floating in front of my face. She drifts over to my cheek and places her arms on me as if she's hugging me. I lift my hand and I wrap my finger around her small body to hug her back. "I'm so happy that you're alive."

"What are you doing here?" I whisper.

"The Resistance sent me in here to find you and Princess Zelda." Navi replies.

I ask, "There's a resistance?"

"Yeah. The other six sages went to their homes and rallied the strongest of their people to create a rebellion. It's all people you know, Kokiris, Gorons, Zoras, a few surviving soldiers, Nabooru's followers, and the group at Lon Lon Ranch, which is where our base is. They're going to send people in here to get you in about a week."

"Wh- what about... Zelda?"

"I can't find her. I checked every room in the fortress. She might be..." Navi's chiming voice fades like an echo.

"She's not dead. I can sense it, even without the Triforce."

"I hope you're right. Anyway, we'll only be able to get you since I can't find her, but we'll come back for her."

"Does The Resistance have a plan of any sort?"

"Yes, there's- wait, someone's coming." I remember that Navi has a great sense of sound. "I need to get out of here, but when one of The Resistance came and got your weapons back, I took this. Don't let them see that you have it." Navi snaps her small blue hand, and in an array of shimmering light my green hat appears. I bunch it up close to my face and a tear rolls onto it. My hat still smells like the forest.

"Thank you." I breathe out. Navi floats up and uses her whole arm to wipe a tear from my face. "I'll come back for you." She turns and once again squeezes under the metal door, escaping into the light. I fold up my hat and stick it under my tunic. Then I lay on my stomach and make it look like I'm asleep as I can now hear the footsteps closing in on me, and I fear what's on the other side of the door, coming for me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Creaaaaak..._

"Get up." It's Ganondorf. Is he angry? Goddesses, please tell me he didn't see Navi! I look up at my captor, trying to look as if I was asleep, droopy eyes, a small yawn, and I scratch the back of my head. Of course, I don't have to try to make it seem like I was uncomfortable. My hand drops to my side and I wince. Ganondorf looks down at me; I still cannot read his expression. His right hand raises, and he snaps. The chains on my legs vanish, releasing the raw flesh around my ankles. I pull myself up with a heaving sigh and rub gingerly at my ankles. Remembering who's presence I'm in, my eyes dart up to his and I wait to see what he does. "Come, I'm treating you to a change of scenery. I assume you're smart enough not to try to escape, so I won't bother chaining you."

This reeks of suspicion. I stand slowly and rest my hand on the wall as I gain balance, having not stood for a while. I look up slowly as I ease off the damp wall and stand face to face with Ganondorf. He doesn't seem to suspect me at all as he turns around. Is he smiling? I try to look without being conspicuous about it, but he turns right around and steps out the door. Silently I follow, watching each step of his carefully. We walk through corridor after corridor, going upstairs then downstairs. Early on I lose track of where my cell was. Ganondorf stops in front of another iron door similar to the one that was at my old cell. He opens the door and I follow in.

The room isn't necessarily large, but it's still much bigger than my old one. A single lantern hangs from the center of the ceiling, flickering slowly. All along the walls are mirrors, except for the area directly across from the door. I try to look over Ganondorf to see what is there, but almost fall back in surprise as he quickly turns on me. His fist, swirling with dark magic, comes hurtling at me.

* * *

My senses come back to me one at a time. First, I feel pain. Everywhere. Searing, red hot pain that can only be brought from magic. I also feel metal bands securing my head and waist against a wall. Then, I hear. I can hear drops of water falling from a crack in the ceiling. _Drip... drip... drip... _Then, I taste. My mouth tastes like blood and metal. There is something metal gagging me. Then, I smell. I smell dirt and dried blood and sweat, I smell myself. And finally, I see. I open my eyes and I look back at... myself? Ah, right. This is the mirror room. Only mirrors, all around. I think I understand the point of this, I'm being forced to stare at myself. Haha, the joke's on him! I can just close my eyes until Ganondorf comes back in here.

My ears perk up and I open my eyes as the sound of small gears moving comes from inside the wall. On each side of my head two metal finger-shaped things come out from the wall. After extending about 3 inches, they turn, and cover the outer halves of my eyes. Then the fingers pull themselves apart, forcing my eyes to be wide open.

And so I just stand there. I just stare at myself, forced to stand straight against the wall. The lantern still flickers with no rhythm. The water drips consistently. Out of a force of habit, I start counting the drips. 1... 2... 3...

It takes about 20 drips until my eyes start to burn. I feel my eyelids tug down against the metal fingers, but I cannot close my eyes. I can tell my O.C.D. is starting to kick in, getting very annoyed with how inconsistent the flicking light from the lantern is, especially with the perfect timing of the water. Drip, flick, drip drip, flick, drip, flick, drip, flick.

No, it's not right. No. I need to distract myself. So I just focus on looking in the mirror. My eyes scan over myself, examining different bruises and cuts and scars, and memories of how they came flash before my eyes. My head snaps up as I hear Zelda scream. Then I pause. It was just the water. Or was it? Zelda... I have no idea what's happened to her since... since it happened. Navi couldn't even find her. Knowing Ganondorf, he could've done anything to her. I cringe thinking about it.

So there's no distractions, no way out of this. I either go insane because of damn O.C.D, or I go insane worrying about Zelda- not to mention how much my eyes burn. This room is really dry, no humidity, it's terrible. My eyes are twitching, begging to be shut. This is also preventing me from just sleeping through my torture. I'm just going to sit, and wait, until Navi returns.

But wait... how will Navi find me here?!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry! I've been busy with school shopping and a carnival and so I forgot to update! Ooooops! Ah well, here we go! I edited this so it's a bit different :)

**Chapter 6**

Navi's PoV

I just made it back to Hyrule Field from the Gerudo Desert. I can't get his face out of my head. When I flew under the door, Link looked at me with such dying hope and belief, he was broken. That wasn't the same little boy who I started an adventure with...

I sit down in the very tall grass, catching my breath, and watching the sun rise. Ganondorf had almost seen me when I left the cell, and I was terrified from that point during my escape. The security of the fortress is so tight now, it's much worse than it was when Nabooru was in control. I rise up to my tiny blue legs. I made a promise to Link, and I have to hurry to Lon Lon Ranch to help organize the rescue! I start flitting my wings slowly, then picking up speed very quickly until my wings make a buzzing noise. I bend down and then shoot up into the air, slicing through the air like a knife through butter.

Not too much later I see the ranch come into view. Excited, I force my small wings to move faster, despite being exhausted. Saria is sitting outside of the ranch, curled up, her green eyes following her fairy as it flies in circles. "Ember!" I call out to the smaller orange fairy. She turns and faces me, jumping up a little.

"Navi, you're okay!" I fly up and tackle her to the ground in a hug. She pulls herself up, laughing.

"Did Nabooru make it back with Link's stuff?" I ask her.

"Yeah! She got here about an hour ago."

"Okay, good." I sigh in relief, laying down.

"Uh... Navi?" Saria looks down at me with her large eyes. "Did you, um... see Link?"

"Yeah, I got to speak with him for a minute, too." I answer, flying up in front of her face.

Saria blushes and looks down, twiddling her thumbs. "Is... is he hurt?"

I hesitate. Should I tell her the truth? "...Yes. What's worse, though, is that I think Ganondorf is playing games with Link's mind. He wasn't acting like himself."

"Oh..." She turns away from me; I think she's crying. "But Link will be okay. He's braver than anyone! We'll bring him back here, and when we're all ready we will bring this big bad guy down." She looked up at the sky, the sun reflecting at her eyes. Although she may look like a child, I just realized how mature Saria has become, compared to the silly girl who played in the forest with Link.

A young Goron comes tumbling out from the ranch towards us. He stops down near us. "Sorry, we gotta go inside before the Gerudo set out on patrol of the field.

One week. Seven days. The countdown begins now.

* * *

Tonight's the night. I stand on Nabooru's shoulder, looking over all of the Resistance members, armed and ready. The soldiers, along with Malon, Talon, and Impa, are mounted on Lon Lon's horses. The Kokiri all wield slingshots and smoke bombs, the Gorons carry bombs and other explosives, the Zoras have healing supplies, and the Gerudo have dual broadswords.

"Okay, listen up!" Nabooru calls over the crowd. "I want to thank each and every one of you for your bravery. Success or failure of this mission could determine Hyrule's fate, so be prepared to sacrifice everything to help us succeed, including your life. If any of you aren't up for the rescue, back out now or die quickly." She stares at the militia. They stare back at us. "Great, you are all true heroes, regardless of the outcome of our rescue. And with our rescue complete, the Hero can rise again to help us, and then this war will finally be over!" She raises a fist in the air. The militia copies her motion, cheering and chanting. "Let's march!"

I stay perched on Nabooru's shoulder as she leads the militia towards the field. I float up and face the Resistance. "All Gorons need to lead the front lines. "I want the cavalry on the front flanks, with the Kokiri behind them. Zoras, gather in the center." They all march to position. "Let's move!" We all stepped (excluding me and the cavaliers) in perfect timing, making a bit of a rhythm. From the cavalry, I hear Malon humming a tune to it that sounds like a marching song.

A cavalier collapses on the ground with an arrow through his neck. The Kokiri children jump, then pull back their slingshots, looking for the target. Mido finds them, and shoots a new invention of the fairies', small, spiked metal spheres. A Gerudo loyalist yelps from the top of a tree, and she gets hit by another through her neck, and the woman collapses. From in between the Gorons and Zoras on her brown stallion, Nabooru orders, "Kokiri! Go scope out the area near the desert edge!" I watch the children sneak ahead, weapons drawn and at the ready. Silence. Fado, a Kokiri girl with blonde hair, slips through to where the rest of us wait.

"It's all clear."

"Aye." Nabooru responds. With a wave of her hand, the bulk of our group pushes along the path to the desert. The Kokiri continue from ahead of us in the shadows. The large, sandy wasteland opens up to us like the pages of a pop-up book, the large stone fortress prominent. With each step our team makes, I see Link getting closer and closer.

_We're here, Link..._


	7. Chapter 7

A.N: REVIEW!

**Chapter 7**

Malon's PoV

My eyes flicker back and forth between the desert to my left and to the militia to my right. The soldier who had been shot in the neck was right in front of me before. The hairs on my arms stand on end and I get chills, despite it being extremely hot. Nabooru, who is in charge of all of this, turns to us. "Link is most likely going to be in the lowest chamber of the fortress. I want the other Sages to come into the fortress with me. Everyone else needs to look everywhere for Princess Zelda, and no matter what happens, **stay away from Ganondorf. **He will kill any of us quite easily; his power is that of Din herself."

"Aye." We all reply.

"And never go anywhere alone. Always have a backup with you." Nabooru adds.

"Aye."

I watch the Sages take the second line, behind the Gorons, with Link's fairy sitting on Nabooru's shoulder. We continue moving, so I click my tongue and urge my horse to go faster, although I can tell she's nervous, too, probably because of my body language. To help calm her, I stop shaking and grip the reins tightly. She whinnies and moves on.

And then we're there. The tall, proud fortress. It's really pretty, and I'm sad that it's a base for such an evil man. I hope that will change soon. There are Gerudo women patroling around, who look exactly like Nabooru and her followers. Luckily, Nabooru thought to give our militia's Gerudo necklaces with the Triforce on it, so we can tell them apart.

The Kokiri somehow appear from nowhere, carrying bundles of Deku Nuts bound by rope, and they throw them at the Gerudo women at the floor of the base, stunning them. The first few cavaliers charge in for attack, and I yell, "Hya!" and kick my horse's sides, and she charges in. I draw a sword and take down a woman, looking away quickly after.

"Go!" A Goron calls, as they all throw small explosives at the front of the fortress. The Gerudo atop the fortress try to collect themselves as the Sages charge in. The Kokiri begin to shoot at the women, however a couple of the Kokiri are shot down first.

"Come on!" I call, leaping from my horse and leading the soldiers, Father, and Mr. Ingo inside the fortress. There is a series of hallways and rooms with iron doors. "Check every room! Leave the door open when you're done so we don't check it twice! I'm going to follow the Sages."

A soldier with only half of his left arm runs up to me. "I'll go with you."

"Aye." I say, staring directly at his green eyes, trying not to offend. We run down a flight of stairs, and then another.

"He's not here!" Saria cries from another hallway. We run to meet them.

"I can see that..." Nabooru sighs.

"He must've moved Link to another room!" Navi added, "We have to hurry!" The soldier and I run up the stairs with the Sages, my legs becoming tired and my mouth dry. We return to where everyone else is searching, with a few Zoras treating wounds.

"Any sign of him?" Nabooru asks a Zora male bandaging a large gash on a man's leg.

"No, not yet. They haven't checked the top floor yet, though." He replies, looking down gingerly at the man.

"Thanks." Nabooru states, showing us upstairs.

"Aye." The Zora says behind us, before he lets out a violent scream that must've meant he was killed. I wince, refusing to look back. The green-eyed soldier turns and kills the Gerudo woman in my stead, as if he knew I couldn't. Finally, we reach the third floor, another hallway of doors, with a large red door at the end with a golden Triforce painted on it.

They all start to open doors and search rooms, and I have to go to the door closest to the one with the Triforce. I push the heavy door open, looking into a room of mirrors, a flickering lantern, water dripping from a crack in the ceiling, and horribly frail boy chained to the wall. "Link!" I yell, running up to him._  
_

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" He screams back, his voice seeming to have more power than he does. His body quivers from his arms being fixated upwards, and his eyes are burning red, as they are being forced open by some sort of machine. He stares at me wide eyed, as if I'm holding a dagger to his throat.

"Link, it's me... Malon." I whisper.

"No... you're not real..." He whimpers, trying to avert his watery eyes. The other Sages come into the room. "None of you are real! Master, please stop this!"

Who's Master? ...Ganondorf?

"Darunia, can you get him out of here?" I ask, turning around. he nods, and takes my place as I back up. Darunia starts with a metal band securing his head, and then he rips off the things on Link's eyes. Then he gets his arm and leg chains. Link drops immediately to the ground, shaking, crying, with his hands over his eyes. Saria walks up to Link, with her orange fairy flying around her head. She holds out her small hand, and then helps bring him to his feet. Link keeps his eyes clenched shut, with a hand up to them, moist with tears.

"Link..." Saria whispers up to him. "...you're free."

"I'm free..." He repeats. Slowly he begins to walk out with Saria supporting him. Impa and Nabooru examine the hallway.

"Come. We must get out of here." Impa says. We all exit the room and start to go back the way we came.

"You damn Sages, you just don't give up, do you?" It can't be...

He comes up the stairs in front of us.

"Ganondorf..." I whisper.

"Master...?!" Link says in shock. He collapses onto Saria, unconscious. She grunts, trying to hold him.

"Dammit. Now what?" Impa whispers, looking to Nabooru. "How are we going to get Princess Zelda?"

"There's no time to get Zelda. We have to get Link out; there's a window in the large room at the end, we'll have to jump."

"You think you can get him out of here before I kill him?" Ganondorf asks with a devious grin. I run up in front of them.

"Get Link out! I'll hold him off as long as I can!" I order, holding my sword in front of me, pointed towards Ganondorf. Darunia picks up Link like a babe and they run to the back room, all except the soldier with one arm and I. "Save yourself." I command.

"'Never go anywhere alone.'" He quotes Nabooru from earlier. I smile to him and then turn to Ganondorf, who draws a sword that glows pale gold like his cold, unfeeling eyes. He comes charging at us. I duck under his sword and try to sweep his legs, but he is sturdy as a Goron. he turns his sword and stabs at me. I scream in terror, but the blade never meets my head. Instead it clashes with the soldier's sword. He tries to fight for dominion.

Ganondorf pushes him back, and trips over me in the process. I crawl out from under him with blood trailing from my mouth where he kicked me on the way down. The soldier swings his sword down at Ganondorf's head. He lifts an arm up, protected by metal gauntlets, that catches his sword. The soldier goes wide-eyed as Ganondorf moves his grip over the soldier's hand. He can't do anything to free himself, as he only has one hand. I cringe as black magic goes swirling up Ganondorf's arm and through the soldier's body as he screams in bloody murder. I'm careful not to touch Ganondorf and suffer the same fate. Ganondorf releases his grip and the soldier drops the sword and falls limply to the ground like a rag doll.

Ganondorf stands slowly, then turns and faces me. I have to stay here to buy time. But if he simply touches me, I'm dead. "Why are you smiling?" He asks me.

_Heh, I always dreamed of being swept off of my feet by a knight in shining armor. Except this time, I guess I'll have to be the knight. _

"Ah, I see." Ganondorf says with a snicker. I stare at him oddly. "I can read minds." _Oh... _I back away slowly with my sword extended. With godspeed, he brushes my sword away and out of my hand and then holds me by my wrists tightly against the stone wall. He leans towards me, pressing his large body against mine, his face beside mine. He whispers softly into my ear, "It's a shame, having to kill such a beautiful girl." I begin to sob.

"Y-you don't h-have t-to kill m-me..." I weep. But I hear it faintly from here, the glass breaks in the room with the Triforce. Link is safe

"I can't help it!" he yells maliciously, with the blackness swirling up his arms once again. I don't see anything. I feel no pain. I just feel my heart hammer in my chest horribly fast, so much that it turns into pure pain. A deep scream escapes from me. When I see again, I'm laying flat on the floor, and Ganondorf has vanished. I can't move anything. I almost can't feel my heartbeat. This must be the end. It takes a lot of energy, but I look over and find the green eyed soldier looking back.

"I'm sorry... I've failed as a knight." He whispers to me.

"No, you stayed. Link is alive. If he lives, the Rebellion lives..." I reply softly. "We've won, thanks to you and me..."

"Yeah, you're right..." He sighs in relief. "I never asked, what's your name?"

"Malon." I answer with a gentle smile. "And... yours?"

"Marius..." He tells me.

"Marius, I'll... I'll meet you in the Sacred Realm." I whisper. _The Rebellion lives... _I repeat in my head. And, at the same time, Marius and I both breathe out our last breaths.

* * *

**END OF PART 1**


	8. Chapter 8

**PART 2**

**Chapter 8**

Link's PoV

My eyes open and I am greeted to darkness. I close my eyes, rub them, and try again. Darkness. Well, I'm not blind; I can see myself. "Hello?" My call echoes far, but nothing happens. I jump back and gasp when I see shallow blue eyes look back at me. Slowly I peek again, and they're gone. Is this one of my Master's illusions? Well, I guess if I'm here, then the Sages, Navi, and Malon rescuing me never happened either.

I turn back quickly as a hand grips my shoulder. No one. I close my eyes and sigh, but after I open my eyes again there are four children standing in front of me in a line, each of them wearing a different mask, but the same clothes. They looked up at me innocently: twiddling their thumbs, kicking imaginary dirt, rocking slightly back and forth, or with their hands behind their backs.

My long ears twitch at a quiet, demented laugh. It was quiet enough for me to question myself, but loud enough to make me anxious. I look around the the noise, of course seeing nothing but the black fog that swirls around me. I jump in surprise as the children take on a different stance, more like a Moblin about to charge than anything. They lift their masks to reveal hideously disfigured faces- maggots crawling out of their orfices, sunken black holes where their eyes should be, and a yellow smile that slowly grew bigger and bigger as they move towards me. All at once they jump on me, tackling me to the ground with unbelievable strength.

I struggle to free myself, jerking around, but the children are inhumanly strong. I hear the laugh again, this time much louder. Emerging from where the children appeared is someone who at first, looks like a grown up version of the children with a normal face, but then I recognize him as the old Happy Mask Salesman from Castle Town seven years ago. His extremely stretched out smile grows as he looks down at my shocked and horrified face.

"I've brought you a new mask... would you like to put it on?" The salesman asks in a creepy loud whisper. I vigorously shake my head no. His face instantly changes to one of hatred. "You shouldn't have done that..." He reaches into his large backpack he's wearing, and I begin crying, trying harder to free myself even though I can't. He pulls one out that looks like just a plain, emotionless person, the face so blank it looks like a dead person's face. It has no mouth. He hands it to the children, who begin squealing with pleasure, their disgusting, broken bodies bouncing up and down. Two of them keep a grip on me- still enough to keep me in place- and the other two pull out needles. They press the mask against my face, stifling my screams of horror.

The two children sit on me as they sew the mask onto my face, giggling, and I am unable to move, or do anything but watch. Each time the needles enter my flesh I gasp, and they come out with a little bit more blood on the needles and their small hands. It feels so real, but I can't wake up. The salesman's face turns into a scarily happy as he sporadically moves around me, examining like a curious doctor, with impossibly fast motions. I flail around but it's no use. My eyes roll to the back of my head because of the pain. The mask is pressed so hard against my face that I can no longer talk, scream, I can barely breathe through my nose; the mask _is _my new face.

When they are finished, the salesman and the children look at me proudly. The two with needles lick my blood off of their hands with snakelike tongues, seeming to enjoy the taste. The two with needles begin to move away from my face, and for a minute I think it's over. Without even a moment to recuperate they begin to sew my arms to me and my legs together. This feels even worse than my face did, the needles poking holes in my flesh, pulling my legs together or my arms closer, rupturing my Achilles tendons and tying them together. The pain resonated through my whole body. This is just a dream, just a dream, I'll wake up and be in my Master's fortress, living another nightmare that's somehow better than this.

Suddenly the children stop. They just stop moving entirely. Just staring. I turn my attention to the Happy Mask Salesman, who slowly bends down over me, stopping just inches from my face. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" He whispers, that demonic smile still stretched over his face. He stands back up to examine as the children continue, faster than before, making the pain worse. It won't let me wake up until they're finished.

After about a minute they finish. The children lift me from the solid black ground and carry me with the salesman leading them. After walking for what felt like an eternity, they stop suddenly. I will myself to look up, and then regret doing it. Lined up in front of us in rows like soldiers are all of the people of Hyrule, sewn like dolls, males wearing masks identical to mine and females wearing a similar one, but for a girl. I know all of the faces under the masks. There is even a section of fairies. Dried blood remains on the bodies where the needles poked through before. Then I look directly in front of us. It's a pedestal of sorts, and written on it in blood, 'Link.'

The children set me down on the statue, standing straight up like all of the others. The pain is too unbearable for me to even consider moving. What would I do, anyway? Hop around in endless darkness until they catch me and kill me? No, thanks. The salesman reaches into the huge backpack again and pulls out a jar of a strange paste-colored substance. He hands it to one of the children, who opens it and dumps it over my feet. It feels like the stuff is climbing over my feet, under them, over them, between my toes. Suddenly it hardens into a solid, and I am stuck onto the pedestal, another statue.

The salesman leans in towards my face again, his face going from happy to... concerned? "Hey, listen!" He shouts, but not in his voice, in a somewhat annoying feminine child's voice. "Hey!" It's Navi.

I wake up sweating, crying, and shaking uncontrollably, not seeing anything when I open my eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

A.N: Yes, Chapter 8 (the previous chapter) was inspired by BEN DROWNED haha :) Sorry if this is a little more angsty, but it's good :D now I have a question. After reading this chapter, can anyone guess a connection between this fanfiction and something (or someone) from another Zelda game? Please review what you think, I love hearing from you all!

**Chapter 9**

Navi rings like a bell as she flies out of the room. My breaths come quickly and my eyes, face, arms, and legs burn horribly. Tears stream from my face without control and my throat is sore, as if I've been screaming for a while. I open my eyes again and I can't see anything. This isn't good. Where am I? Was I dreaming? Did everyone really rescue me, or is this more of my Master's tricks? I begin shaking in fear, waiting, letting my mind repeat everything that has happened recently.

I jump up as the door opens. I hear Navi flying and two people entering the room by foot.

"By the goddesses..." Impa whispers as she comes to my bedside. Who's the other person?

"How did this happen?" Nabooru asks, joining Impa.

"Wh-what?" I stammer.

"He can't see, too. I was afraid this would happen, after he was in that torture room." Impa says to Nabooru, disregarding me.

"Link..." Nabooru says, "There are small holes in your skin, around your face, on your arms, and on your legs. They're so small, though, it must've been done with needles..." She uses a wet cloth and wipes blood from my body.

"No..." I whisper.

"What?" Nabooru pauses cleaning for a second.

"NO! HE'S STILL HERE!" I yell, clutching my hands on either side of my head and bury my face in my knees, shaking.

"An intruder?" Nabooru's feet shuffle as she runs towards the door. "I'll assemble a patrol immediately."

"Link, let me see your arm." Impa urges. I lift my left arm, the tight bandages around that hand shifting, and offer it to her shakily. Gingerly she turns my arm to look at the needlepoints.

A surge of pain travels instantly over mine and Impa's bodies. I can see the room for a few seconds from my left eye during the surge, and I look over at Impa. She is staring straight ahead, unaware of what's going on. Glowing pale orange around her left eye is the three eyelashes and teardrop that make up the Sheikah insignia.

The pain stops. Once again I am blind, and Impa drops my arm, panting.

"What was that?" I ask, afraid to know the answer.

"I- don't-know." Impa replies between hasty breaths. "I... ahem, I must look into this. I will be headed to my house in Kakariko for a few days to look further into the matter. I will come to you later with more information." The door opens and shuts as she runs out.

I'm left alone now. I try to settle back in the bed, but find it impossible to be comfortable. Not just from the scars, but from these dreams and hallucinations and pain. And now, I can't even see. I have no way of knowing what's going on around me without my sight. I might still be dreaming, or perhaps I was drugged at some point and my rescue, the dream, and laying here now is all in my head. If I can't see it, how am I supposed to know it's real? I hide under the covers of the bed I lie in, hoping that if the imaginary world around me cannot see me it will go away and leave me to the reality of my hell.

But then again, do I want to return to reality? I'll just be offering myself back to my Master. There's only one way to end this completely fucked up form of suffering...

I crawl out of the bed and feel around for anything sharp to use. Eventually my fingers dance over what feels like a kitchen knife atop a table across the room. I poke the end of my index finger with the tip of the knife to judge it's sharpness. A small drip of blood trails down my finger, and drops to the wooden floor. I cringe; it reminds me too well of the water that endlessly dropped from the ceiling of the mirror room. I turn the knife and hold it, sharp end facing towards me, placed softly against my neck.

The door opens.

"STOP!" Nabooru yells, running accross the room towards me and knocking me to the ground. She wrestles the knife out of my hand and I just lay there, just realizing what I was about to do. Cautiously Nabooru rises off of me and puts the knife in either a bucket or a basin. I just lay there a moment, with my hand with a bleeding finger held up gingerly near my neck.

I sit up slowly, looking down- since I can't tell where Nabooru is I can't look at her. "...Thank you..." I whisper. There's noise as she sits beside be: the movement of cloth, the shuffle of feet, the small sigh she gives as she sits.

"I know. I know it's hard. But, Link... you're Hyrule's last hope for peace. If you die, the Rebellion dies with you. We need you here, you are the Rebellion."

"How do you expect me to fight M- Ganondorf? He's done something to me that none of you can understand, so what am I supposed to do? All I can do is cower away and live in my fear and regret!"

She lifts a hand and gently sets it on my face. "I spoke with Impa right before she left. She believes there is a connection between you and her, and she's looking into it. If she finds what she needs, Impa thinks she can restore your eyesight."

I lift my hand and place it over Nabooru's, on my face. "She... she can?" I close my eyes and turn away, trying to hide the tears rolling down my face. I hear her body shift, like she's looking over at me. Nabooru pulls her hand out from under mine, and grabs my shoulders and pulls me to face her. And then she gives me a gift I've never really had.

Nabooru hugs me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

I have spent the past few days here at Lon Lon Ranch. Saria often comes in to tend to my injuries, and sometimes plays her wooden ocarina for me. Navi told me yesterday that Malon died while they were rescuing me. Of course I didn't take the news lightly, knowing she died at Ganondorf's hands himself. Today we're burying the bodies, which were collected since Ganondorf and his few surviving followers abandoned the Gerudo fortress.

The door opens, and I'm assuming it's Nabooru coming to get me.

"Ah, Link, how _wonderful _to see you again." A deep, male voice says in an untruly happy tone. I sit up and my hands clench over the sheets covering me.

"N-no..."

"I was hoping to pay you another visit before it consumes you." Ganondorf walks up beside me.

"W-what?" I try to subtly scoot away from him.

"I'll let you discover that on your own." Chills crawl over my body, paralyzing me, as he touches the side of my face, tracing over the needle-points in my flesh. "I hope you are enjoying your new friend." He comments, probably talking about the Happy Mask Salesman whom I saw in the nightmare. But how does he know about that? "You'll have some new friends, too, but for now he'll do." New 'friends'? "Also, I know of your friend's futile plan to help you see again. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

"NO! DON'T! DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yell, burying my face in my arms, with a stupid hope that he would listen. Ganondorf chuckles. The static feeling of his magic encloses my wrists, and forces my arms up. he puts his hand under my chin and forces my face to be tilted upwards towards his. There is a pause, and right next to my ear, he grinds two knives together, with a bone-chilling screech.

"NO!"

The knives plunge through my eyes.

* * *

Nabooru's PoV

I had woken up earlier than normal to make preparations for burying the people lost rescuing Link. There was a total of 43 casualties, which is actually a large portion of our group, over 1/4. I had taken it upon myself to decide where it would take place.

"Nabooru, ma'am, a word?" Shira, my right-hand-man from the Gerudo Desert, asks.

"Of course, Shira, but it'll have to be quick. I still have arrangements to make." I reply, looking up from a list.

"Link has been screaming horribly for nearly an hour, and no one can wake him up. But there's another thing..."

My eyes widen, "What is it?" Shira whispers it to me. "No... are you sure that's it? I must go and see! Can you do my job for a little while?" I shove the list into her hands.

"Uh, sure..." She says. "Is Link going to be okay?"

"Yes, he will." I call back to her as I've already taken off towards his room. _I hope... _The old wooden door swings open, and I am greeted to a horrifying sight. Link is sitting against the wall at his bed, with his arms suspended in the air as if they are being bound by chains, screaming.

"NO! STOP!"

And something that is so strange and impossible, that I've never seen.

Link is crying blood.

"By the gods..." I mutter, coming up to his bedside. "Link? Can you hear me? LINK!"

A voice echoes in the room, **_"_**_**You should learn not to meddle in affairs that don't concern you."**_ and Link's arms drop limply to his side. I look around the room for the source of the noise. I jump backwards in shock as I turn back around and find Link staring back at me with scarlet eyes, still dripping blood. He wears a smile I could've never imagined him making, with a knife in his hand, the one he always insisted on keeping under his pillow.

I gasp and block his hand as he swings the knife at me loosely, like a puppet. Link and I wrestle for power, if this really is Link. I shove him down to the hardwood floor and jump on him, wrenching the knife from his hand with a pressure point trick I learned long ago. His hands jump up towards my neck; I lean my head back and take his wrists in my hands, pinning them down.

The blood streams from his eyes off the sides of his face. Link's cold, blank, red eyes glare at me emotionless for a few moments. He writhes and closes his eyes, and I watch intently for what is to happen next. His eyes open again, soft blue, and the blood stops coming from his eyes, replaced with real tears. Link stares up a bit higher than my face, meaning he can't see again. I gently release my grip and get up from him.

Link rises to his hands and knees, tears dripping to the floor. His body quivers. I just watch, mesmerized by what I just witnessed.

"Nabooru..." Link whispers, sadness choking his words, "What's happening to me...?"


	11. Chapter 11

A.N: Keep reviewing! I love to hear from you guys; you won't believe the stupid grin I make when my phone buzzes with an email from FF xD I'm curious to hear your theories on what you think's going to happen next, or if you can make any connections between characters/events. So, yeah... lol. Oh, and yes, for Saria's PoV I want her thoughts to match what she'd actually think so it's a bit more childish and simple compared to the older characters (Link, Nabooru, etc.) like she calls coffins big boxes of dead people xD I find that very funny... ha ha... ha... :3 let's go!

**Chapter 11**

Saria's PoV

I was upset earlier when Ms. Nabooru told me that Link isn't coming to the burial; I was looking forward to bringing him a change of scenery. Oh, well. I'll take Link for a walk tomorrow, when he's not too sleepy. Oh, that reminds me! The burial's about to start!

I jump up from the bench in the stable, and come down to the ranch, where the horses run around. Everyone else is already there, and the dead people are in some giant box things. I run up to them, and try to slip into a group of Kokiri without being noticed for being late. Ms. Nabooru reads from a tome with the Triforce on it, saying very long words that I don't understand. But I just stand there quietly like everyone else.

Then they slowly drop the big boxes of dead people into holes dug into the ground, one at a time. It takes a _long _time. After about 10 boxes, I yawn and lean on Fado's shoulder. She bumps her arm, making me lift my head. After the last one is put in the ground, and they've been buried and marked with carved stones, everyone takes off in different directions. I sit down on a mossy tree stump near the middle of the ranch and pull out my ocarina, and look up at the sunset. I put the mouthpiece in my mouth and gently blow, making up a new song that sounded like a lullaby. I repeat the melody, thinking about different random things about the world, watching the sun dip into the horizon, but I keep looking around at the empty ranch, with a creepy feeling like somebody's watching me.

*it won't put a horizontal line here for some reason, so **insert horizontal line here***

* * *

Ganondorf's PoV

I sit down in my throne atop the tower, looking out the window. The Resistance thinks they've won this war already since they stole back their precious "hero." It doesn't matter; I can still toy with his mind, and his eyes. Last I checked, it's pretty challenging to fight someone you can't see. I've been trying to think of other ways to make their little ragtag team fall apart, but I can't seem to find any inspiration. Perhaps if I use my magic to look at their base, I'll think of something.

My eyes glow purple as I look through a raven's eyes, flying above Hyrule Field. I force the bird to fly near the pathetic little ranch, where they've been hiding, and I perch the raven on a tree between the house and the ranch. A little green-haired girl is sitting in the middle of some graves, playing her little instrument. She keeps looking around, as if she knows I'm watching her. Another little girl with blonde hair and green clothes comes walking out towards the other girl. "Saria? Saria?" She calls softly, noticing the green haired girl.

Perhaps I could use this little green haired girl. "Saria..."

* * *

Saria's PoV

"Saria? Saria?" Someone says from near the house. I look up towards Fado. But then someone else whispers my name, in a vaguely familiar voice, "Saria..." I put my ocarina away as Fado comes up towards me. "Where in the world have you been? It's dark out, why aren't you inside?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking." I shrug.

"What about?" Fado sits down on the grass beside me.

"Fado, you know how Link really wasn't a Kokiri?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He had real parents, right?"

"I think so..."

"Do we have parents, then, too?"

"Well, the Great Deku Tree is our daddy, silly!"

I shake my head sadly, "No, I mean real parents. We are people, how could a tree create us?"

Fado raises an eyebrow and tilts her head a little. "I don't know... I never thought about it..."

"I know I have a real mom and a real dad out there, I _have _to. I want to find them someday..."

"You never know." Fado shrugs. "You definately have strange thoughts, Saria. I'm going to sleep." She turns around. "You coming?"

"In a little bit..." I mutter. "Good night."

"Good night." She skips up towards the house where everyone else is, and I sit alone again, like I used to in the forest. But I really don't feel alone. Somehow I can sense that my real parents are with me, and I know that they're always here.

* * *

Ganondorf's PoV

So... this child believes that the person watching her is her nonexistent parents. This can definitely make things easier. "Saria..." I whisper to her again. She looks around frantically for the source of the noise.

"Is someone there?" She asks.

"Have you forgotten your father?" I reply softly, trying to make it sound sarcastic and friendly.

"My... my father?!" Saria's eyes dart across the ranch. "Where are you, father?"

"Calm yourself, child. Your mother's and my spirits became one with the goddesses not long after you were born." I lie, "But I was gifted wings and I've come to guard you and to guide you, my child."

"Can I see you, father?" She asks me.

"Of course, my child, you shall know my face again." Dark magic surges through my hand and I conjure up a spirit with large, majestic angel wings. I try to make the man look similar to the little girl, with green hair and eyes, and white robes. Saria widens her eyes as my illusion floats before her. "But, Saria, you are the only one who can see me. For now, I must leave you, my child, but come back here tomorrow night."

"Okay. Good night, father... I love you."

I hesitate, and then say, "I love you, too, sweetheart." and let the illusion of her angel vanish. My eyes return to normal as I stop looking through the raven's eyes. Saria, she reminds me a bit too much of someone I used to know... but that was a long time ago.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

MANY YEARS AGO

The young boy awoke from a deep slumber as the large red door with a Triforce printed on it swung open. He winced away from the torch-lit hallway and caught a glimpse at the hooded figure at the threshold, holding something in his hands. The Sheikah man at the door came up to the boy's bedside.

"Father? What's wrong?" The boy asked, looking into his father's blood-red eyes. Shakily, the man handed the boy a dark brown wooden box, with a golden key slot, and a golden Triforce engraved on the lid. The man then removed the box's key from his neck and put it around the boy's neck.

"My child..." He sighed, staring intently at the floor, not meeting his son's eyes. "No matter what happens during your life, never forget who you are." Playfully, the man ruffled his son's hair and rose. The half-awake boy yawned, and looked up curiously to his father. "I... I'll see you later." And the father turned his back to the child, not wanting him to see his tears, and walked out of the bed chamber, gently closing the door behind him. Just a few moments later, the child was asleep once again, clutching the box to his body.

* * *

The child woke up, hazily looking down at the box he was holding, and the key worn around his neck. It took the child a few moments to remember the previous night's event. he jumped up quickly with wide eyes, racing through the corridors of his home. Thoughts of his father ran through his head, trying to come up with logical reason for what happened last night. He found the dining hall to be mostly empty, save for his mother, a beautiful high-class Gerudo woman, who sat at the end of a long table, poking at her food while leaning her head on her hands.

"Mother! Mother!" The child ran across the hall too his mother's side. "Where's Father?"

His mother turned her head away from him, sitting up stiff. "You know what the tradition is for the men that come here who aren't Gerudo like us. His time is up..." Her voice quivered as she spoke. The child took a small step back, his golden eyes growing wide as tears dawned upon them. Gingerly his fingers reached up to the key around his neck.

Hesitantly the mother looked up, ready to comfort her son, but he was halfway out the door, crying loudly. She jumped from her chair. "Ganondorf! Ganondorf, wait!"

* * *

Ganondorf's PoV

I wake up with a start, subconsciously yelling, "Father!" I sit up and try to catch my breath, realizing how exhausted I feel, as if I really have been running. I look through the purple stained-glass window to see the sun just peering over the horizon. Without looking, my fingers dance over my chest to find the golden key I'm wearing around my neck, with just a simple thin rope holding it in place. I look down at the key, tilting it to distort the purple reflection from the window. Why was I dreaming of that day?

I look over to my bedside table and glare at the wooden box sitting atop it. I pick the box up and set it on my lap, looking down at it like a child holding a new birthday present. I fit the key into place and twist it. Cautiously I open the box. The figurine of a beautiful young Kokiri girl wearing a green gown still is where it's been since my childhood, frozen with one leg raised and her hands above her head a as a ballerina would. I put the key into the second slot, inside of the box, and crank it a few times. I leave the key in place and release it as the song starts to play, the song of the Lost Woods, each note ringing out slowly. The Kokiri figurine spins slowly with the song. Looking down at the figurine, I am startled by an extremely strange fact.

The Kokiri girl looks exactly like Saria.

Quickly I set the box down on the table beside my bed and stare at it blankly as the key turns slowly and the notes ring out hollowly with the figurine spinning. There couldn't possibly be some reason behind the figurine, could there? Saria looks as if she's less than ten summers old, and I've had the box for a lot longer than that. And anyway, there's no way for me to find out, and I have more important things to do than find out for myself.

The last note tinks out, and the figurine stops spinning. I pull out the key and quickly shut the box, with hands that shook lightly. I shake my head back and forth, removing these strange thoughts from my head, and put the thin rope attached to the key around my neck, where it's always been. Hesitantly, I look back at the strange music box and leave my bedchamber.


	13. Chapter 13

A.N: This is a shout out to two people, specifically. The first is Yami No Nokutan, who has been constantly giving me feedback since day one, and Dragoneon, who doesn't even have an account, but has followed my story from the beginning as well and didn't review until a couple of hours ago. You guys all make me smile when I hear back from you, even though I honestly don't think I'm a great writer ^_^" I can't belive how many people have read The Brink of Death now and I hope you're all enjoying it. There are a lot of strange twists with Part 2, don't ya think? :3 Well, here's Chapter 13!

**Chapter 13**

Link's PoV

Waking up from dreamless sleep, I find myself clutching the knife beneath the sheets much tighter than normal. Still holding the knife in my left hand, I rise from the bed and shuffle across the room blindly, my arms extended in front of me, until I reach the small kitchen area. My hand finds the cupboard and opens it slowly.

A hand grabs my wrist.

Gasping, I jump back and try to stab it, but only end up stabbing my own wrist. Cursing under my breath, I pull out the knife and try to find the creature that held my wrist, not finding anything. Cautiously I pull out an apple from the cupboard, my fingers dancing over it cautiously, and I take a bite from it. I walk back and sit on the bed, enjoying the sweet apple.

The door creaks loudly as it opens slowly. I hold the knife in front of myself defensively, dropping the apple. "Who's there?"

"Relax, Link. It's me, Impa. I've returned." It's clearly Impa's strong voice. The sound of her footsteps gets louder as she approaches. I drop my guard.

"What have you found out?" I ask.

"I understand now what has been happening to you." Impa replies, "You know that for centuries, the Sheikah have been protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule, just as I have tried. Anyway, not all of the Sheikah have stayed faithful to the Royal Family. During the Hyrulean Civil War a few years back, a faction of the Sheikah, who called themselves the Interlopers, betrayed Hyrule and wished to gain dominion over the Sacred Realm and the Triforce, ultimately. No one knows what happened to the Interlopers, they just vanished.

"Looking back at the records from the war, there was but a single Sheikah, excluding myself, who was not involved in the war. A fairly normal man, he'd be about 12 summers older than I, I used to know him in Kakariko as a small child. But he became infatuated with a Gerudo woman and they birthed a child... and that child is Ganondorf. Ganondorf was born with the dark magic of the Sheikah, but unlike myself, and those before him, he never learned to control the shadowy magic of our ancestors. A powerful, uncontrolled version of this magic is what has been affecting you."

"I-is there anything you can do to stop it?" I clear my throat, a little surprized to find that my voice was shaky.

"Yes. Do you remember the night before I left, that strange connection?" I nod my head in reply. "It was Ganondorf's magic, responding to my own. I can tame the magic, possibly. It will be difficult, and painful, for both of us, but I can restore sight in at least one of your eyes."

I give her a snarky grin, "One eye is all I need to kill him."

She chuckles, "Well, I hope so. There's one other thing that you need to do before I can do that, however."

"What is it?"

"Before I can control Ganondorf's darkness, you must conquer your darker self once again. You've battled him once in the Water Temple, correct? Your darker self shows the negatives, the opposites, of your true self. Any time you experience fear, or cowardice, ignorance, or weakness, it grows stronger. It'll be much harder to dispel now than it was before. Are you up for it?" Impa continues to explain.

"Yes, if I could do it once, I can do it again. When are we doing all of this?"

"Tomorrow, for the ritual can only be done during a new moon. So, tomorrow at sundown I will come and get you. We can just have the ritual out in Hyrule Field, so we won't disturb anyone." Impa says. "I'll take my leave for now. I suggest you rest."

"Thank you." I say as she walks out of the room silently. I drop down on my bed, repeating everything she had said to me. That Impa sure is something, figuring all of this out. Why are things so complicated, and how is everyone else acting like all of these recent events are easy? I sigh and set the knife on a small table near my bed.

Laying in silence for a while, I drift between being awake and asleep, until I finally give up fighting and go back to sleep.

* * *

I wake up from that dreamless sleep. It's much cooler than earlier, meaning it must be night. This is a first; I've never slept through the whole day before. Heavy wind bellows outside, foreshadowing a storm. I get up from bed and close the shutters to the lone window in the room and lie back down with nothing to do but listen to the wind whistle outside.

The door opens.

"Who is it?"

No reply.

I take my knife in my hand.

"Who is it?!"

One footstep.

Two.

Three.

The person simply touches me, and an electric shock of pain courses through my body. The knife falls to the floor, clanging against the wooden floor. _Clink, cla-clink. _The person picks up the small knife and chuckles menacingly, "You think pathetic weapons such as this could harm me?"_  
_

"Wh-who are y-you?" I stutter, unmoving.

"You don't mean to say you've forgotten me, have you? No, of course you haven't. You were planning to dispel me tomorrow." My darker self...

"What are you doing here?" I manage to stop stuttering, but gods damn me if my voice wasn't pathetic and childish.

"You mean it isn't obvious?" Gingerly he places his open hand on my face, forcing electricity through my body. He leans in closely to my ear, his sickly hot breath crawling over my neck. Softly he whispers, "I want you to be afraid." The hand holding my knife comes up and he starts tracing lines along my face, drawing blood. I don't know why, but moving seems impossible. The knife goes in intricate, swirling lines along my face. I don't cringe, I don't even wince. But I feel it, gods damn I can feel the knife, slowly tearing through my flesh, hot, scarlet blood rolling sluggishly down my face and onto my neck.

When he... no, _it, _finishes what he's doing, he tosses the knife , his tongue brushes over my neck, and he grins at the taste of my blood. I still sit how I've been for the past few minutes, paralyzed in terror. The storm outside grows louder, rain showering down onto the fields, thunder booming from the sky.

"Hm, someone's coming." My darker self says, moving away from me. "Don't worry, I'll come back for you tomorrow, though." The shutter opens again, and the shadowy being crawls out of it like an animal. I just sit straight up as I've been, my chest hardly moving with my breath. The door opens slowly and softly.

"Link...?" It's Saria. She steps into the room with delicate footsteps. I melt into the bed, hyperventilating, feeling like no air is getting into me. My heart starts to hammer inside of me. Saria gasps, seeing my blood soaked face, watching me screaming and shaking as my breath escapes from me faster than I can recollect it, no tears coming out. "Ms. Nabooru! Ms. Impa! Something happened to Link!" And she races out into the storm, as I get lightheaded from the lack of blood and oxygen, and blur out into nothing, not feeling the pain, or anything.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

I walk silently behind Impa, listening to her feet crunch down the wet grass with each step. My face is burning hot still from the cuts from yesterday, but I restrain my feelings. The night is cool and moist. It's not really an awkward silence, more of an agreed silence; there's nothing happy to talk about. Someone bumps into me, and I slide in the grass as I regain my balance.

"Oh, sorry Link." Saria mutters.

"What are you doing out this late?" I ask, trying to turn my head to face her.

"Oh, just going to meet a friend." She replies, starting to walk away, with slightly slanted footsteps, as if she's only half asleep. I shrug her off and run to catch up with Impa, who didn't wait for me. We walk cautiously down a hill, meaning we must be out at the field now.

"Wait there." Impa orders monotonously. She drops down the various things she was holding, and from the sound of it, she's arranging things on the floor. After about a minute, she takes my hand and slowly guides me to where she wants me to sit. I drop onto the damp grass, cross legged. Her feet scuffle as she sits in front of me. "Let me see your right hand." I hold it out to her and Impa opens some kind of container, releasing the tart smell of blood-drop berries from the forest, a. A few moments later she pokes my hand with a needle, and I tense up at the thought of the masked children of my dreams. "Relax, I might mess up if you're all tense like that."

I try to follow Impa's order and my shoulders drop slightly. She continues to poke the needle into a pattern, and although I am more relaxed, I still find myself wincing with each poke through my flesh. It takes a little while, but eventually Impa finishes. She takes a damp cloth and swipes it over my skin to eliminate the blood, and looks down tentatively at my hand.

Impa asks, "Are you ready to face your darker self? Once you enter the darkness of your mind, I cannot bring anyone out until one of you has perished."

I clear my throat and nod, "Yes."

"Good luck." She says. Before I can give a reply she lifts my right hand over her left eye. Impa then raises her right hand and puts it over my left eye. I cringe and my eyes pop open. For just the briefest moment I see Impa still sitting there, unmoving. I flail and fall into darkness, my own darkness.

* * *

Saria's PoV

I can hear my father calling my name softly from the ranch. After bumping into Link, I walk slowly towards the ranch, tired. I had fallen asleep earlier before getting to visit Father again. I go out to the mossy tree stump that sits in the middle of the graves. As I sit down, the soft white light appears again and from top to bottom my father appears, with his large white wings shining. His green eyes glisten happily with moonlight in them as he sits down beside me.

"How was your day today, my child?" Father asks.

"Good!" I smile up to him.

"I heard you playing your ocarina out here earlier. That was a beautiful song you were playing."

"Oh, thanks!" I blush and scratch the back of my head, "But I think my friend Link plays it better than me."

"Is Link that boy who you were talking to up there?" Father asks, pointing up ahead of us, towards the path to the field. I nod my head. "And where was he going?"

"Well, you see, Link's blind because of this really mean man, Ganondorf- but that woman that was up there, Ms. Impa, came up with a way to restore Link's eyesight! That's what they were going to do tonight, I think." I answer. Looking up at Father, he grimaces when I mention Ganondorf. "...Father? Are you okay?"

"Hm?" He looks down at me, puzzled. "Oh, yes. I'm fine... but I think I have to depart for the night."

I frown, "Can't you just stay for five more minutes?"

Father gives me a crooked grin, "Ah, I suppose five minutes won't hurt." I lay down on the stump, looking up at the speckled sky, the full moon looming above us. With his wings preventing him from laying down, Father just sits beside me, looking up. A dazzling white stream of light flies over our heads.

"Wow, a shooting star! I've never seen one before..." I jump up happily.

Father chuckles, "You know what you do when you see a shooting star, right?" I shake my head no. "Well, a shooting star means that Hylia is watching us here right now, and if you make a wish, she will grant it. What do you wish for?"

"Hm..." I look down, and up, hoping to find some inspiration. Then I sigh and lay down on the tree stump again. "I guess... I wish for Link to kill Ganondorf. He was so horrible to Link before and has done something to Princess Zelda. I feel bad for saying it though, because I think that Ganondorf might be a good man underneath... and..." I mutter the last bit of my sentence before I fall asleep.

* * *

Link's PoV

My fall is stopped by a slap on my back from a hard, cold black floor. I can see myself once again. I'm wearing my tunic, stitched together with mostly-cleaned blood stains. I feel at my back and, strangely, my sword is there. No shield, though- that could be problem. I stand alone for a long time, staring intently at walls of black encasing me, waiting for my darker self to emerge.

Chills crawl over my body. At first I curl my arms up in front of me, thinking it is cold, but then my long, pointed ears twitch to a soft noise. An ocarina, I'm guessing, playing hollow and empty notes that ring out from everywhere, from nowhere. Sometimes the notes increase in speed and strength, making me expect something to emerge from the shadows. It never does- the notes then recede and become faint again, and then grow afterwards in a cycle at random intervals.

I sigh to calm myself when I notice my hands shaking. Closing my eyes, I draw my sword from its sheath. A Redead screeches violently, making me drop my sword and stand where I'm at, paralyzed with demonic magic and fear, the strange effect of its scream. My eyes dart down towards my weapon. The music climaxes once again, and the deformed undead being staggers towards me, becoming more visible as it takes slow strides towards me. My heart pounds against my chest as I try to reach for my sword.

The creature stands in front of me, and for the brief moment of freedom I'm given I bend down and pick up the Master Sword. It screams at me again, and then its rotting, thin body latches onto me like a leech, curling it's dehydrated arms and legs around me. The Redead's mouth latches to my head, and I can feel it willing my energy towards it, absorbing it dangerously fast. I start to wiggle myself free from it's weak grasp. I break free, and slice the creature's head off before it can scream in protest again. The music fades away.

I sit down and recollect myself, wiping sweat from my forehead and setting my sword down. A flurry of leaves rushes around in front of me, and from it emerges a skull kid, the small beings from the Lost Woods, holding a horn and a blue lantern. It giggles, blows the horn, and vanishes in another rush of leaves. Once again the music rises in intensity. The Redead scream echoes mcuh louder this time, and my eyes flick around for the source. And then, I'm paralyzed by more than the screams as an entire horde of Redeads emerges from the darkness, advancing towards me, ready to feast on my soul.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

My body freezes in place at the bloodcurdling screeches clawing thorugh my ears. The decomposing corpes, with patches of blood staining the crippled skin and the smell of death about them, limp towards me as the ocarina, in an unknown place, becomes disorderly and riotous again. The circle of Redeads retracts, shrinking around me. My mind scatters around for a way out of this. I can feel my muscles begin to loosen and I start to shift, and I'm poked by the three small crystals in my pocket. My hand twitches as I force it to grab the red one, Din's Fire.

Just before the Redeads latch onto me, I am freed from the scream and raise my right hand into the air, and slam my left hand into the ground with the crystal inside of it. A circle of flame engulfs the monsters and me as the crystal protects me from the fire. The rancid smell of their flesh burning overwhelms me as they disintegrate into ash.

The crystal drops from my hand. _Tink, ta tink. _I follow suit and drop beside it, exausted from the use of magic, something I do not enjoy. My whole body shakes, numb and limp from the exertion. The ashes of the Redeads blow away in a nonexistent breeze. The music finally ceases, dying away all together. I pick up the glowing orange crystal and put it away with a shaky hand.

_"Heh heh heh heh..." _

I freeze, my breath caught halfway in my throat.

But what is he doing here...?

_"So, I take it the first mask I gave you was not to your liking?"_

I rise to my feet insecurely, blood pounding in my ears. I pick up my sword from the ground. My eyes lift up and meet his eyes- I recoil in shock. The salesman's eyes are no longer there; in there place are hollow, black holes with blood oozing from them along his hideously bony face. I try to avert my gaze, but I know the second I turn there will be a blade through my gut, so instead I will myself to face him.

_"Perhaps this new one will be more to your liking..."_

The flurry of leaves emerges in front of me again as the skull kid appears once more, with the lantern and horn at hand. The skull kid's horn bellows as another group of Redeads appear, facing the Happy Mask Salesman this time, instead of me. The salesman chuckles and pulls out a strange mask, heart shaped, with large orange eyes and spikes protruding from it. The mask floats from his hand with violet sparks flying out from it, static sounds whizzing about. The mask whips through the air and sticks itself on the skull kid's small face. He tries to pull it off futilely, but after a wave of violet shocks over his tattered clothing, the skull kid's arms drop to his sides.

The skull kid turns slowly towards me, with the salesman watching the event with an over-stretched grin with the hollow place where his eyes were.

He blows the horn again, and the Redeads vanish.

He steps towards me.

I step back.

"Eeeeeaaaaaaaah!" The child screeches. The skull kid and the salesman lose color, melting away into the background, and my stomach lurches as I begin to spin rapidly, unprepared for the next fight against my own darkness.

* * *

Colors splash around me as the spinning ceases, painting a scene of an unfamiliar place. A town, bustling with merry people. I find myself standing on top of some sort of clock tower, alone, the Ocarina of Time missing from my supplies. From directly behind me a Redead screams, and I am met with blackness again for a brief moment. When the world around me returns to my sight just moments later, everyone that ran around the town vanishes. The sky glows pale pink, and it is deadly silent, a strange twilight-zone silence. The whole place feels so... broken.

A distorted version of the skull kid's laugh resonates through empty air. I turn and find it floating in the air, wearing the strange mask, cradling the Ocarina of Time. I pull out my bow and prepare an arrow, not wanting to get close to the skull kid. I let the arrow fly, but upon contact, the arrow dissolves into purple fog, but the skull kid still recoils, as if he had been struck by something.

_"That won't do you any good... hee hee hee." _The skull kid whispers, the mask slurring and distorting his speech worse than a gallon of mead ever could. A strange force comes from the skull kid, like invisible arms reaching out to me. The arms grab my body and lift me in the air; I flail, trying to break free, terrified. Flame rises from below me, encasing my body in flames, sending flashes of pain towards wherever the fire touched. Then the force lifting me to the air suddenly stops, and I drop to the ground, still on fire, falling into blackness.

* * *

Once again the scene is painted from the black canvas around me, this time landing me in a seemingly endless stone corridor, with torch sconces every few paces. Turning around, I find a wall, and know that the only way to go is forward.

_"Heh heh heh heh."_

I freeze.

Silence.

Hesitantly, I turn around, and find nothing. Slightly shaky, I continue down the hallway, still seing no sign of it ending. My body freezes mid-step- obviously the work of magic- and a lavender light floats from me, outward. I stumble forward once the magic releases me harshly. Turning around to see the result of the spell, I recoil in shock and disgust.

There is a figure standing there. A statue. It wears a green hat and a torn green tunic. Sewed onto its face, with bloodstains near the edges, is a strange mask, one that looks emotionless, like a dead person. The arms are also sewed tightly to the body, and the legs are sewn together, blood marking the lines where the needles penetrated the flesh. An odd, paste-like substance holds the statue's feet on the pedestal. And written on the pedestal sloppily with blood, "Link".


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The statue's empty blue eyes stare back at me, unmoving. Terrified to avert my gaze from it, I begin to back away slowly, my hand shaking near my blade's hilt. After I know the statue won't move, I turn around and run through the never ending hallway. I manage to look back just before the statue goes out of sight, still far back where it was before.

After a few minutes, I collapse down onto the cold floor with rapsy breaths and aching legs. My hand drops from the top of the sheath and I use my hands to hold myself up. Sweat drips from my face onto the floor. I can't explain what made me so terrified of the statue, there's just... that feeling. After I've caught my breath, I stagger to my feet and casually glance over my shoulder before I continue down the hallway.

"FUCK!"

The statue's right behind me.

I drop to the ground in shock and fumble to pull the sword out. My hand trembling uncontrollably, I point the sword at the statue's chest, but it stands still, just as before. l slowly rise to my feet unsurely, still tired from the sprinting just a minute ago. Very hesitantly, I start walking again, scared to look back but still listening for the statue's movement. After a few minutes of silence as I walk, I turn around again and find that the statue is directly behind me, as if it's following me, or- I don't even want to say it- haunting me.

With my sword still in hand, I try to swing at it but find that sparks fly from the statue and nothing else. I stare into the bone-chilling eyes, that look straight forward, although when I move to its side it feels like the eyes are following me, like the absurd ghost stories of moving painting eyes. I walk backwards away from it, and find that after about ten steps the statue would magically appear up near me again. As I continue down the hall, though, the statue's appearance becomes more aggressive, only giving me one or two steps before its directly behind me again.

My back bumps into something wooden. I turn back around, chilled knowing that the statue is right behind me, and look up at an impressively large wooden door, moss growing at the ends and in cracks. I grip a large, golden doorknob and use my full body to shove the door open. I walk through, the statue spawns behind me, and the door vanishes, becoming a part of the wall. I look around at moving colors on the wall, mostly shades of purple or orange. I spin around and glare at the statue; this must be the final part of this hell.

The same flurry of leaves spirls around in between the statue and me, and the skull kid emerges from it, still wearing the strange mask. He blows the horn he holds, and then vanishes into leaves again, his distorted laugh bouncing emptily off of the shifty walls. The statue in front of me starts to rumble, making the entire room quake. I watch in terror as the bloody, sewn up version of myself begins to lose all of its color, the skin turning sickly grey, the tunic becoming black.

The monotonous mask dissolves into a puff of blue smoke, and the face transforms as well. The eyes take on a bloody red color, the hair dyed jet black. Finished changing color to that of my darker self, the statue begins to animate, ripping its arms and legs free from the dewing, inky black blood dripping onto the floor. It shatters the material holding it to the pedestal and jumps down. A sword, shaped like the Master Sword but made from dark grey steel, materializes and floats to my darker self's hand.

He stands.

He turns.

He faces me.

He... laughs?

"Heh heh heh, ha ha HA!" His laugh reverberates, a snarky grin exposing long, pointed fangs. Once my darker self stops laughing, he continues to wear a large, fake smile. I hold my sword defensively in front of me, thinking that the ground is shaking below me but realizing it is only my own fear. "So, the little boy thinks he can defeat me?" He holds the sword in front of his face, and with an inhumanly long tongue he licks the sharp edge of the blade. I can feel his bloodlust. "Even if you were somehow able to defeat me and regain your eyesight and a little bit of sanity, my exile would be pointless. You lost to Ganondorf the first time you fought him, there's no way you can bbeat him with only one good eye."

"You lost to me the first time we battled." I comment dryly.

"I know. I want to make you an offer though." My darker self dissolves into nothing, and reappears behind me. "We're a lot alike, you and me. Our only difference is dark and light. The dark isn't all evil though, is it? There's a moon and stars in the night sky, just as there is virtue in me. Look, I want Ganondorf dead as much as you do, he's tapped into dark magic that is even beyond me, ancient, forbidden magic. I know you think that as you're opposite, I'm all evil, but it's not true. I chose to exist the way I do. Darkness holds a strength that light cannot achieve, a hidden power. I want to give you a taste of this power, if you'll let me..."

My thoughts feel somehow dulled, and my mouth moves faster than my mind, "Let me try this power..."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Ganondorf's PoV

I guide the raven from the ranch to the field hurriedly to watch. If the boy is really attempting to destroy his darkness, it could jeopardize my main plans, and I would have to resort to using my dau-uh... Saria. But could I? Let's hope I won't have to make that choice. I perch my bird on top of a small tree, seeing the Sheikah woman glare at me. I hope she can't tell that I'm using the bird to observe.

The Sheikah woman darts back around- Link's hand drops from her eye to support himself. I can see his body convulsing in a pulsing rhythm; this is a good sign. It means that his darker self is most likely corrupting him, and might even destroy himself. His glazed-over, blind, blue eyes open and glare at the moon as his body is encased in darkness, and he morphs into a large, sooty black wolf. The Sheikah woman rises quickly, with a delicious look of terror as she backs away from the wolf slowly.

Link, now the wolf, rises on all-four, his eyes unwavering from the Sheikah, the stance of a predator. "Oh, no..." The Sheikah woman mutters. Link crawls low to the ground, stalking the woman, getting progressively closer. She gasps as she hits the cliff-side that the ranch is built on. She glares hopelessly at the wolf, obviously praying that he'll stop and transform back, though it is nearly impossible.

"Impa... where's Link?" A voice comes from up the path. I turn in horror to find my... Saria... standing up there, half awake. I want so desperately to grab her and run back up the hill but I'd have to appear here and it would completely blow my cover, so instead I will myself to watch. The wolf's attention is now focused on her instead of the Sheikah woman. He breaks into a run; Saria just now notices the midnight black wolf and screams in terror as it jumps on her. I still force myself to watch. The wolf's jagged, sharp teeth latch onto her arm, ripping through her flesh as he pounces on her. The Sheikah woman runs up and tries to pry the beast off, though he still holds a stern grip on her arm, blood staining his fur and teeth. At this point Saria has long since passed out. The wolf keeps tugging at her arm, probably hoping it'll tear off.

From nowhere, a voice echoes around us, _"Stop!"_ It's Link's voice; he's trying to gain control again in his Sheikah woman's eyes light up, and she pulls out a Deku nut from her pocket and hurls it at Link. He freezes, mid strike, and his mouth loses its grip as he stumbles backwards before collapsing on the ground. First, The Sheikah woman looks down at Saria, observing her deep- and possibly deadly- wounds: A sharp blow to the head when she fell, ravenous bite marks in her arm, and various claw marks racked across her body. Only half aware of it, I fly up towards her, sitting beside her, in a way. The Sheikah woman waves an arm to me, "Shoo!" as if thinking the raven wants to feast on Saria's remains, even though she's not dead. I begrudgingly force the raven to hop away a bit.

The Sheikah woman looks over at Link, still a wolf. He twitches, and then rises slowly from the ground. His visible blue eyes glare towards Saria, and then he turns away, running off through the field into the night. "Link!" The woman yells, though the wolf is long gone. Then she looks back down sorrowfully at _my _Saria, at what she and that foolish boy did to her. I can feel my body subconsciously wanting to appear there and take her away, but for the sake of my survival, I can't. So I continue to watch, willing myself to stay put as the woman gingerly lifts her from the dew-dropped ground and run her back up to the ranch, yelling desperately for help. It was the fault, truly, of the darkness in Link's mind, though. Link let himself cave into the being's control and now he's a ravenous beast running amok. Although this means I may never have problems with the boy again if he remains in that state, I feel a worse sense of dread. _I _am the main cause of the darkness in his mind. _I _let it fester and grow into something that even I cannot control.

_I _attacked Saria.


End file.
